Absorbent polymer composition with hazard indicator

ABSTRACT

An granular composition for absorbing liquids, the composition comprising perlite, super-absorbent polymer, a pH-indicating dye, and a minor amount of water. According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the subject composition comprises about 80 weight percent perlite, about 5 weight percent SAP, about 0.0125 weight percent pH indicating dye (most preferably phenolphthalein), and from about 7 to about 9 weight percent water in the final product.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/324,089, filed Apr. 14, 2010.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to absorbent granular compositions that areuseful for cleaning up liquid spills.

BACKGROUND

Compositions are needed that are cost-effective for use in cleaning upliquid spills, and more particularly, liquid spills that occur on floorsin retail stores, warehouses, schools, offices, and the like. To beeffective, such compositions should desirably absorb liquids rapidly,exhibit a noticeable color change in response to the pH of the spilledliquid, and are economical enough to be used in significant volumes forcleaning a wide variety of liquid spills.

The compositions of the invention are believed to perform moreeffectively than absorbent compositions comprising vermiculite,diatomaceous earth, clay, cotton fibers, peat moss or sawdust. They arealso less expensive than absorbent compositions comprising rubber or ahigh percentage of super-absorbent polymer (“SAP”). Compositionscomprising superabsorbent polymers are disclosed, for example, in U.S.Pat. Nos. 5,278,206 and 6,500,947.

SUMMARY

Applicants have discovered that perlite provides better oil and solventabsorbency than either vermiculite or SAP, whether used alone or incombination. The compositions of the present invention preferablycomprise perlite, SAP, a pH-indicating dye, and a minor amount of water.According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the subjectcomposition comprises about 80 weight percent perlite, about 5 weightpercent SAP, about 0.0125 weight percent pH indicating dye (mostpreferably phenolphthalein), and from about 7 to about 9 weight percentwater in the final product.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A preferred composition of the invention is preferably made by mixingperlite with about 15 weight percent water premixed with about 0.0125weight percent pH indicating dye in a ribbon mixer for about 5 minutes,then adding about 5 weight percent SAP. The combined materials aredesirably mixed for about another 15-20 minutes to achieve thoroughdispersion, and then dried to a total moisture content ranging fromabout 7 to about 9 weight percent.

Perlite is preferred for use in the compositions of the inventionbecause it is readily available in smaller particle sizes, which meansgreater surface area for liquid absorption because of greater surfacearea, and also provides more slip resistance. A preferred perlite foruse in the compositions of the invention has a specific gravity of about2.35 and a particle size ranging from about 30 to about 100 mesh.

A preferred SAP for use in the compositions of the invention is sodiumpolyacrylate, a white granular powder having a specific gravity rangingfrom about 0.62 to about 0.74 g/ml.

All preferred components of the subject invention comply withProposition 65 in California and are not considered hazardous due tocontamination with asbestos, reactive or heavy metals, organiccompounds, or the like, as are sometimes encountered, for example, inother absorbent compositions such as those containing magnesium orvermiculite. Also, because the subject compositions contain perliterather than vermiculite, clay or other darker-colored mineralabsorbents, the color change of the pH indicating dye is more apparentwhen the compositions contact and absorb either an acidic or basicliquid spill.

When the compositions of the invention contact spilled liquids having apH ranging from about 5.5 to about 8.5, the absorbent desirably has apale green color. When the compositions contact a basic liquid having ahigher pH, an observable color change occurs, causing the absorbent toappear purple. For pH values in the range of 10.5-11, such as forchlorine, the color may turn white. Conversely, when the compositionscontact an acidic liquid having a lower pH, an observable color changeoccurs, to pink or red.

When undergoing comparative testing with an absorbent product comprisingvermiculite, SAP, sodium bicarbonate and sodium sulfite, thecompositions of the invention generally require about half as muchabsorbent to absorb spilled bleach or acid drain cleaner, and aboutone-fifth as much to absorb spilled oil.

We claim:
 1. An absorbent granular composition consisting of about 80weight percent perlite, about 5 weight percent superabsorbent polymer,about 0.0125 weight percent pH-indicating dye, and about 7 to about 9weight percent water.
 2. The absorbent granular composition of claim 1wherein the pH-indicating dye is a mixture of phenolphthalein, acid blue9, and acid red 2.